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The Gambia’s minister for Information and Communication Infrastructure, Alhaji A. Cham has restated The Gambia government’s continued and unflinching commitment to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country for socio-economic development and called on the private sector and other service providers to render their undivided participation and support in this crusade.

The minister made this remark on Monday at the commemoration of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day held at the ministry’s office in Kanifing.
According to him, the government is fully committed to mainstream ICTs in all spheres of its development process as envisaged by the Gambian leader in order to make the country a city state. He noted that the government is also cognizant of the fact that ICTs can be utilized as a tool to cut cost, improve its service delivery and also to promote efficiency with the resultant effect of freeing up resources for other socio-economic development activities.
Speaking on the theme for this year’s celebration: ‘Better city, Better life with ICTs’, he said ICTs ensure a better future for the growing populations and also reinforces the need to address the disparities within the cities and urban dwellings left out of reach of ICTs as well as development in general which cannot be achieved if all stakeholders are not actively involved.
“ICTs provide solutions to many of the problems we are facing today, as well as making our lives eco-friendly and economically viable.
“For many city dwellers, it is nearly impossible to imagine life without ICTs. From television to mobile phones and the Internet, the ICTs have reshaped the world, and helps billions of people to live, work and communicate in the most conducive way to improve our living conditions. Although such facilities are becoming necessities for city dwellers, yet there is a cross section of our people deprived of its uses,” he said.
According to Mr. Cham, the basic needs such as food, shelter, education, drinking water, sanitation and health care are addressed by MDGs, in order to improve the living conditions of many of the world’s inhabitants and ICTs are a means to achieving these objectives.
He then used the opportunity to announce that the Information and Communication ministry has started developing web portal and websites for ministries and line agencies so that these platforms could provide timely access to relevant government information services.
He also said plans are underway to establish community access centres in all the regions of the country. He therefore called on all relevant stakeholders to give their support in the achievement of these objectives. According to him, as ICTs have proved useful in telemedicine and tele-education platforms, the government would deploy ICTs in agriculture, education, health, trade and commerce for the purpose of uplifting the conditions of the people. “Already an action plan has been developed for the diffusion of ICTS in our local communities,” he said.
For his part, director general of Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Alagi B Gaye noted that May 17 marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865 and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 1973, thus prompting the occasion to be recognized as the World Telecommunication Day. He said the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005 and 2006 also designated the day as the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
According to Mr. Gaye the theme for this year’s event was chosen out of the recognition of the important role ICTs play in ensuring sustainable development. “We have already seen how mobile phones have contributed to the social and economic development of communities and economies, particularly in Africa, where mobile phone penetration witnessed phenomenal growth in the background of limited fixed telephone networks. The Gambia has not been an exception to this development with the liberalization of the market in 2001, which saw the introduction of competition. The Gambia, according to the ITU1 in 2008 had the highest telephone penetration rate in West Africa with 73% of the population, which is above the developing country average of 62%,” he revealed.
He however noted that despite the commendable achievements registered in the area of voice communications, internet usage and penetration rates particularly for broadband remain low, implying that sub-Saharan African countries will not attain the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 8 which pertains to ICTs, if the present trend persists, and to reverse the trend all hands need to be on deck including the stakeholders (policy makers, regulators and operators) in order to promote the adoption of policies and strategies that will promote ICTs in urban areas to contribute towards better life in cities.